Air B n B guests no longer need to clean up after themselves

[lonelylou09]

Wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the upcoming changes to Air BnB bookings where owners will no longer be able to ask guests to strip beds, remove rubbish or even wash up after themselves.
I'm a cleaner and I'm worried this will mean I can no longer do changeovers properly.
I currently do a 5 bed 3 bathroom that sleeps 10 and it takes me the whole check out time (5 hours) to turn the property over. That's with guests having to strip beds, remove rubbish to correct outside bins and at the very least load up the dishwasher and put it on.
If I have to add this on to It could easily add on an hour which means check out or in times would have to be adjusted and people already moan or turn up 2 or 3 hours early or leave an hour late.
So I'm guessing I'm asking what peoples thoughts are if you use air B and b. Do you do these things if asked and would continue too if you can't be asked to? Or do you think this isn't your place to do it? Does it make a difference if there is a cleaning fee charged separately?
My view is it's not a hotel ..its self catering and you should leave it as you found it. I always put a lot of effort into trying to ensure when the guests arrive it feels like no one was there before then and it's theirs for the week.
If I stay anywhere...even a hotel I'll strip the bed and set the bins ready to make it easier for the cleaner.
But although most guests are great you do get some that you just wonder what Thier own home is like.

Some of them are just cheeky! No-one is going to leave a sink full of dishes or not wipe up spills, but taking rubbish home with you? I think not.

I remember the early days of Air BnB when it was individuals renting their own home out to individuals for a few nights and it was a brilliantly cheap way to stay somewhere.

I stayed in people’s houses and I wouldn’t dream of leaving them messy. The rating system was there to warn about bad customers.

Now it is a very different thing with commercial lets using it and wanting to charge commercial rates and being nearly as expensive as hotels. I am not going to pay almost as much as a hotel if I have to deal with someone who may or may not be reasonable and then get given a chores list.

At that point the hotel option appeals because you get professional customer service and no cleaning demands!

Ahhh these moans are making my week!

If you can't manage it in the alloted time, then you will need to ensure there are two cleaners to do it in half the time. The associated extra cost comes from your profit.

It's that simple.

How do you think hotels cope with the fast turn around times? Bad enough the early check out times in AirBnB's for 'cleaning'. Want to run it like a business? Pay the costs like you're running it like a business. Otherwise allow yourself more time between guests to cope with the appopriate cleaning.

You can't have it ALL your way - guests cleaning up after themselves, cleaning fees etc, 10am check out.

I think its about bloody time.

People literally pay a specific add on cleaning fee (which is often not cheap) and then are punished for not cleaning. There is no other hotel, hostel or holiday let that charges cleaning then demands the customer does those jobs or attempts to double charge or public shame them.

Its legally fraud and its been called out so much its finally changing because AirB&B have been lucky not to face legal action.

If people damage/destroy something like punching holes in walls, splattering food on the ceiling and graffeting etc... thats different as that willful destruction, but not stripping beds, washing and drying bedding/towels, hoovering, dusting, setting off and emptying the dishwasher, putting the bins out etc... those are what the cleaning fee is for. People PAID for those services to be done so they don't have to on holiday, you cannot give them a chore list like a child.

If you as the cleaner are having issue with turnover time or think you aren't being paid enough, take that up with the host but its not the renters fault.

This was one of the funniest experiences I’ve read. I’d have struggled to not leave a review that took the piss out of that: “hope Bobby doesn’t turn into an angry grizzly and hunt me down for (possibly) forgetting to wipe that coffee mug before I put it back in the cupboard!”
The host of that place sounds demented! I’d have probably made my own sign with an even more ridiculous demand and left it somewhere, hoping the host didn’t find it but a future guest got a good laugh out of it.

I’m lucky that so far I have stayed in places where they didn’t have a list of cleaning requirements, laminate signs everywhere with dos and don’ts. I tend to tidy as I’m going along and usually pack my handheld Dustbuster with me as it’s quicker to use that for getting crumbs up. However, aside from using the odd multi-surface cleaning wipe, putting bins out into a wheelie bin, washing dishes/putting them away, that’s the extent of the cleaning I’ll do.

I find it annoying having to pay a cleaning fee & then on top being asked to empty bins etc. I am happy to wash up, tidy, put dishwasher on but feel that the cleaning fee is meant to cover the actual cleaning.

The thing is though we don't charge a cleaning fee we never have so the hosts like myself who didn't charge a fee are unfortunately now going to have to do so as the little tasks add up for our cleaners. So we will be paying them more and potentially have to adjust our check in and check out times to accommodate this.

I think its just common courtesy to strip beds and not leave piles of dirty dishes around.
And most people feel the same.

We stayed in a cottage this summer. We were provided with specific bags - one for bed linen, one for towels. Instructions on brushing up and hoovering, all rubbish removed and recycling in the correct bin. It didn’t bother me as there was no additional cleaning fee but the written instructions seemed a bit much. The cottage had cost nearly 2k for a week. I left it cleaner than when I arrived.

I agree it’s common courtesy not to leave piles of rubbish and dirty dishes around, but I draw the line at stripping the beds. I don’t agree most people feel the same, air bnb have introduced this change in response to a high volume of complaints.

when I am on holiday I don’t want to do housework. Most people feel the same.

If I pay for cleaning as part of the Air BnB cost I would not expect to have to strip the beds or take the rubbish out, any more than in a hotel.

As a courtesy however I will:
Make sure all dirty dishes, glasses etc are in the dishwasher - if time allows I'll switch it on so they are clean when the cleaner gets there.
Towels left in bathroom, hanging up.
Fridge emptied of perishables.
No rubbish left lying around but put in the bin, and recyclables separated if there's the option to do that.
Toilets have been flushed.

DH likes to take the recyclables out to the bottle bank, but only because he's embarrassed by the quantity ...

Its not like we are asking you to Polish, Hoover and Mop the house though.
Pulling some sheets off the bed and leaving on floor helps us also identify which beds have been used and which have not especially in our larger properties that sleep 28 people.

In my experience it's the ones with the longest list of demands who are the meanest with towels, dishcloths, tea towels and consumables. "Please enjoy your single dishwasher tablet and much-used sponge. We have also given you single use sachet of washing up liquid and a toilet roll. That single small-sized towel each will be more than adequate for the week. There is no kitchen spray or bathroom or toilet cleaner. Here's our 19-point checkout checklist."

So you just rely on guests to strip the beds to decide which ones need new bedsheets? Gross.

Its also being missed by a lot of hosts that you are actually still allowed to ask guests to do reasonable things.

You just can’t insist on it, or threaten fines or cancellation if they don’t. You won’t be allowed to leave bad reviews based on not complying with unenforceable requests either.

For many many decent hosts the changes will make absolutely no difference whatsoever. The vast majority of guests will continue as they are and it’s only going to negatively impact hosts who ask too much from people they’ve forgotten are paying guests.

We recently stayed in a 3-bedroom Air BnB but only used one bed. It was perfectly obvious the other 2 beds hadn't been slept in. They were made up hotel-style with the towels neatly rolled up on the bed when we arrived.

There was also a bathroom that wasn't used and I think that would be obvious too - the toilet roll was still intact.

I do pull the covers back on the bed we sleep in so it's clear it needs to be changed. But I'm not going to strip it completely.

I‘m so pleased about this - it was getting ridiculous. I don’t want to be stripping beds and mopping floors and trying to get it all perfect by 10am. Much preferred hotels - preferably with a 12pm check out and no cleaning.

If you can’t get the turn around done in time then you need to block out an extra day between bookings or there needs to be two of you. I say this as someone who ran an Airbnb (with no stupid cleaning rules) I’d just block out extra time between bookings to avoid the stress of a short changeover.

Hosts need to stop being so demanding. It’s a good change.

Ex host here (gave up when Covid arrived).

Hosts have always needed to have a contingency on changeover because less than 100% follow house rules.

I recognise you're a cleaner not a host so this needs to be sorted by the host x

🤣🤣 yeah of course we just remake them and let them stink up the place thats why we have such a thriving business! Oh and we allow unlimited dogs stay too and still charge no cleaning fee as we want it to be dirt ridden.
Honestly people its just stripping a bed.
Rule are rules and we will adapt but honestly there a much bigger things in the world to moan about.

I think this is a good move. I appreciate it's self catering but it's still a holiday and the cost of that holiday factors in the cleaning fee. I resent having to do things like take out rubbish and follow all number of rules. It's simply not fair on the paying customer and thankfully it's now being addressed. Greedy owners will have to use some of their profits to hire more cleaning staff.

Exactly. So what does it really matter if it doesn't get done?

Again, I’m not stripping beds on holiday😊 no matter how much time and money it saves you. I have avoided air bnbs as much as possible because it seems the cleaning tasks are put on the guest because the host isn’t prepared to do it.

i will leave used towels in the bath, I will pull back duvets on slept in beds, but uf if I pay to stay it’s the hosts job to strip the bed. If it’s so easy why can’t you do it?

I think that if the airbnb owners did not charge ridiculous cleaning fees AND expect people to clean up after themselves, including leaving sheets on the floor in front of the washer, this wouldn't even be an issue. We do all the things we are supposed to, but I do resent it sometimes.

We have taken to writing down more people on the booking than we actually are. DH and I like to sleep separately and it's far easier to say there are 5 of us than say we are 4 but we need all 4 beds.

I totally agree with you though and you shouldn't have to beg for a second towel.

Course there is but you are not getting what people are saying to you. If it’s ‘just stripping a bed’ then, as an air bnb owner, you do it and let your ‘guests’ enjoy their holiday without having to worry about cleaning up before 10am on their last day.

@Nosdacariad

Hosts have always needed to have a contingency on changeover because less than 100% follow house rules.

Were your guests informed of all your "house rules" before they booked??